TN Man Drives Auto For 8 Hrs Every Day In Search Of Homeless People To Provide Them Shelter

Every day we come across many homeless people living in the streets. These people are deprived of basic necessities like food to eat and clean water to drink. However, there are kind-hearted people who step forward in helping the homeless because if not us, who will?

Like this one man from Tamil Nadu who goes out every single day in search of homeless people to provide them with shelter. According to a report by The New Indian Express, D Arul Raj, an autorickshaw driver, dedicates 8 hours each day to find homeless people in the street, provide them with first aid if needed, and get them admitted in shelter homes.

The first time Arun Raj did social service was during the floods in 2015 after his wife’s friend called them asking for help. They had run out of food and couldn’t step out of the house. It was then when Arun brought food to their place that he realised that there were a hundred others who needed help. He then ferried around a pushcart in the locality to provide the families with supplies.

He, along with others, worked for six months straight on flood relief and cleanup. He also had a bank job then, from which he was fired due to lack of time and dedication because he prioritised social service.

One day towards the end of 2016, he came across a homeless woman who asked him to take her to a shelter home. He was clueless about it back then.

“I did not even know what a shelter home was until then. Earlier too, during floods, a woman had asked me the same, but I could not help her. But this request made me take the step to rescue the homeless and this changed my life forever,” Arun said.

In Jan’17, he got a call asking him to help an injured homeless man lying in the street. He then got in touch with several NGOs and was successful in enrolling the man to a private shelter.

Arun identified his calling. He went on to take over an already functioning social service page on Facebook and renamed it ‘Karunai Ullangal Trust’. His vision was for the Trust was to help homeless people find shelter. With the help of a friend, he bought an autorickshaw in 2017. He is on autorickshaw duty from 6 AM to 10 AM, then again from 6 PM to 10 PM. From 10 AM to 6 PM, he helps the homeless.

He also went on to learn first-aid because on encountering homeless people, he finds that their feet are infested with maggots due to living in extremely unhygienic conditions. He keeps the first-aid box handy under his seat.

In two years, Arun has rescued more than 320 homeless people.

Arun recently introduced the Karunai Ullangal Trust mobile application through which people can upload pictures of the homeless and assign volunteers to help them. It also contains the database of such people to help their families find them.

Arun Raj is doing the society immense good with his noble endeavours. We hope many homeless people can find shelter because of him!